incigiru's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tiredandspice's review against another edition
5.0
i don’t know what this book is, but i know i want more like it
minega31's review against another edition
2.0
Brooding and atmospheric, but ultimately not creepy or engaging enough and builds up to an incoherent and unsatisfying finale. The writing is elegant and you get a good feel for the characters, but ultimately the story goes nowhere. A huge disappointment considering how fantastic Oyeyemi's first book 'The Icarus Girl' was.
sam_bizar_wilcox's review against another edition
5.0
This novel is arresting. With shades of Toni Morrison and Shirley Jackson (and perhaps Donna Tartt), Oyeyemi's haunted-house fairytale is a verbal feast -- enough to choke on. A young woman is haunted by the ghostly women of her family in an old seaside bed-and-breakfast, the house itself serving as the primary antagonist (and one of the untrustworthy narrators) of this eerie fable. Of Oyeyemi's novels (at least, of those that I've read) this is the most complete: the novel is structurally sound and the ending feels contained in the beginning. I've long held the belief that Oyeyemi is more alluring for the strengths of her prose than for the actual novel-length stories, and that her best works are in shorter forms. This novel has proven me wrong. In fact, I think it's the most aesthetically complete and rich offering from her oeuvre. It's a near-perfect novel. And with some very savvy language and some complex verbal structures, I think it's a far more cerebral work than it gets credit for. An excellent choice for late October.
mushimilda's review against another edition
4.0
Quel livre étrange! Définitivement de l'ordre du New Weird (je développe une obsession avec ce genre que j'ai du mal à satisfaire), doublé d'une narration assez expérimentale, un peu adolescente aussi. Ce qui tombe bien puisque l'histoire suit une ado atteint de TCA qui sort de l'HP et débute l'université, sur fond de maison hanté, avec des scènes creepy bien aidées par la narration décousue et les multiples POV difficile à identifier. Le reste de l'histoire évoque des thématiques autour de l'identité, de la famille et de la maladie mentale, avec en plus beaucoup de perso racisés et une histoire queer. Je ne saurais recommander ce livre sans prévenir qu'à nouveau, il sort des sentiers battus côté narration, mais je lirais définitivement d'autres ouvrages de l'auteur.
shelbydong's review against another edition
1.0
I wish I knew wtf I was reading. This book made absolutely no sense. I don’t think there is even a story being told? I have no clue. A complete waste of my time..
I read it for a book club and I’m hoping after discussing with others maybe I will like it more? Probably not.
I read it for a book club and I’m hoping after discussing with others maybe I will like it more? Probably not.
carriepond's review against another edition
I am not giving a star rating because I don't know how to easily quantify how I feel about this book. I felt apprehensive, fascinated, sometimes a bit repulsed, and nervous much of the time I was reading it, but ultimately I don't know if I actually understand anything that happened. But that didn't make me dislike it. I thought the characters in this were really compelling. One review I read said the book was "less a coherent story than a coherent atmosphere," and I thought this was a pretty apt observation. I liked this creepy read, and I almost feel like I need to re-read it to chew on it more.
callahadam's review against another edition
I don’t even know how to rate this because my experience reading this book can’t be quantified with maths
zosiablue's review against another edition
4.0
“I’ve read that madness is present when everything you see and hear takes on an equal significance. A dead bird makes you cry, and so does a doorknob.”
Helen Oyeyemi is perfect & I can only compare her to herself (hence 4 stars here in Oyeyemi vacuum - 5 if against anyone else). A beautiful book about total mad love. She’s the only author I trust to start a book making no sense - if you relax into her, everything falls into place. Magical and bittersweet as always. ✨
Helen Oyeyemi is perfect & I can only compare her to herself (hence 4 stars here in Oyeyemi vacuum - 5 if against anyone else). A beautiful book about total mad love. She’s the only author I trust to start a book making no sense - if you relax into her, everything falls into place. Magical and bittersweet as always. ✨
rikkibaynard's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this! Thought provoking and genuinely creepy. I’ll definitely be reading more of Oyeyemi’s work.